1956 Cadillac Sedan de Ville

1956 Cadillac DeVille

I have been scanning the ads for 1956 Cadillacs for many years, and I sincerely believe my car is as good as or better than anything I have read about.
My car looks terrific and runs beautifully. I drive it regularly to keep it in good mechanical shape and to enjoy it.
I am not certain about the history of my car, and it is hard to tell where the original ends and the restored begins. If it was restored, it was quite some time ago, and whoever did the restoration did an exceptional job. Everything seems correct. It is not quite a show car, but nothing tacky has been done to it.
The interior color is amazing and unusual. The black-with-gold-dots fabric is not so rare, but I believe the yellow leather, dash and door areas are very different but they are correct. You can find this color combination on the list of colors that were available in 1956.
The leather on the seats seems original to me. The fabric just has to have been renewed, because it is nearly perfect with no discernible wear.
The carpet is perfect and is the correct kind of material used in 1956. Sort of a flat woven material...not plushy or shaggy. Could be original, but I doubt it.
The radio works nicely, and I had the clock changed to quartz.
The wipers I changed to electric and they wipe and squirt just great, and I was able to keep the original knob.
The engine and transmission are fantastic. Starts right up, runs smoothly and quietly, and the hydramatic shift perfectly.....better than other hydramatics that I have driven. The engine needs no oil between changes.
The front end has been gone over, and I had the steering gear rebuilt. So even with the bias ply tires, the car handles quite well. I drive it on the freeway without any problem.
The electric windows work great, and the six way electric seat works properly also.....I did some work on that....still the original one-year-only mechanism.
I doubt that the paint is original but for the most part it is gorgeous. In certain lighting conditions I can see areas that have been touched up, and there are a few areas that are not great....but you don't notice them at first or unless you are up close.
The trunk has the original cardboard parts, but I replaced the floor of the trunk with some black auto carpet.
The heater/defroster works great.
I had a pertronix thing done to the distributor.
The treadle vac and carburetor have been rebuilt by an old time Cadillac man here in Seattle.
In short, this is a beautiful, correct, all-around great car. Only financial stress is causing me to list my pride and joy.